iPhone Upgrade on Rogers - Set Up Questions

[Ontario]

I am looking at upgrading my Rogers 4G iPhone SE (gen 1) to either Rogers 5G iPhone SE (gen 3) or Rogers 5G iPhone 15.  Retaining my same phone number with Rogers.  I have looked through the literature, etc, and have a few questions I hope the community can help me with.

iPhone SE (gen 3) option:

1. iPhone SE (gen 1) has a physical nano SIM. iPhone SE (gen 3) has a nano SIM slot and eSIM capability. With a new iPhone SE (gen 3) would I be best to just physically transfer my existing Rogers nano-SIM to my new phone or would I be better off using the eSIM option?  If I use eSIM, how would I obtain it?

2. During the set up of the new phone, when do I do the transfer of the SIM from one phone to the other? I would look to use the "Quick Start" feature where you bring the old and new phones into proximity and the new one picks up the information from the old one. But those instructions are not quite clear to tell me if I should put the SIM into my new phone before I do the Quick Start process or after or somewhere during.

3. Would the Rogers nano-SIM from my 4G phone allow me to receive 5G on my new 5G compatible iPhone?

iPhone 15 option:

4. With the iPhone 15, there is no physical SIM slot. Can I convert my physical Rogers nano-SIM to an eSIM that would work in my new iPhone 15?  Or do I need to obtain a eSIM document to scan? From who/how/when? How much does it cost?

With Either Option:

5. Availability seems to be a bit of an issue for either of the phones I am looking at (both 128GB). At least through the Rogers authorized dealer I was looking to go through.  However, they seem to be available from some of the Apple Stores directly.  If I buy a iPhone SE (gen 3) or iPhone 15 from an Apple Store in Canada it is "unlocked". What do I have to do to make it work on the Rogers system. Is it different from the process if you buy from a Rogers dealer directly? Are the phones physically different? I have read on some posts on this forum about people buying phones from non-Rogers suppliers and they cannot seem to get those phones to work with wifi-calling on Rogers. That would not be good. Any advice here would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your support. 

*** Edited Labels ***

[RogersMoin · Accepted solution]

Hello, @Ontario.

Thank you for being our Community member; I relish you posting your queries here. 

Upgrading the phone can be thrilling; I appreciate your research before the upgrade. 

1. iPhone SE (gen 1) has a physical nano SIM. iPhone SE (gen 3) has a nano SIM slot and eSIM capability. With a new iPhone SE (gen 3) would I be best to just physically transfer my existing Rogers nano-SIM to my new phone or would I be better off using the eSIM option? If I use eSIM, how would I obtain it?

• Your current nano-SIM will work with the new iPhone SE. Just insert the SIM, turn on the new phone, and follow the on-screen instructions to set up and transfer the data from your old phone.
• However, if you order it online, your new phone comes with a new SIM. You can change it at a later time if required.
• Please book an appointment at the nearest Rogers Store to obtain and switch to eSIM if you choose to.

2. During the set up of the new phone, when do I do the transfer of the SIM from one phone to the other? I would look to use the "Quick Start" feature where you bring the old and new phones into proximity and the new one picks up the information from the old one. But those instructions are not quite clear to tell me if I should put the SIM into my new phone before I do the Quick Start process or after or somewhere during.

• You can insert the SIM and turn on the new phone to begin the Quick Start process.

3. Would the Rogers nano-SIM from my 4G phone allow me to receive 5G on my new 5G compatible iPhone?

• It should provided you have a 5G-compatible wireless plan. If you still need to, you can switch/update the SIM as discussed under the first question.

4. With the iPhone 15, there is no physical SIM slot. Can I convert my physical Rogers nano-SIM to an eSIM that would work in my new iPhone 15? Or do I need to obtain a eSIM document to scan? From who/how/when? How much does it cost?

• Canadian iPhone 15 models still have physical SIM card slots.

5. Availability seems to be a bit of an issue for either of the phones I am looking at (both 128GB). At least through the Rogers authorized dealer I was looking to go through. However, they seem to be available from some of the Apple Stores directly. If I buy a iPhone SE (gen 3) or iPhone 15 from an Apple Store in Canada it is "unlocked". What do I have to do to make it work on the Rogers system. Is it different from the process if you buy from a Rogers dealer directly? Are the phones physically different? I have read on some posts on this forum about people buying phones from non-Rogers suppliers and they cannot seem to get those phones to work with wifi-calling on Rogers. That would not be good. Any advice here would be much appreciated.

• Since not all services are available at all stores, choosing the right store is essential. Please see this thread to choose the right store to call and check the device availability.
• iPhones purchased directly from Apple Canada Stores should work. Please mention that you are on Rogers network, and they will access your account and add the phone to your plan.
• Features like WiFi calling may not work for phones purchased from different countries and under different carriers.

All the best with your upgrade, and let us know if you have further questions. 

Cheers,

RogersMoin

[Ontario]

Thank you very much @RogersMoin.

That is exactly the help I needed. 

Update:  I ended up purchasing an iPhone SE (gen 3 - 2022 version) from Apple online.  On my existing phone, it made note of the pending new phone and offered additional iCloud space for back-ups and transfers in the process. I acknowledged that and it prepared a back-up of my existing phone to set the baseline.  

This morning I transferred my Rogers nano-SIM from my old iPhone SE (gen 1) to my new (Apple-purchased) iPhone SE (gen 3 - 2022 version). 

I plugged both in and turned them on.  (Wifi and Bluetooth were on.) My old iPhone said No SIM as expected, and my new iPhone said Welcome.  I used the Apple Quick Start that came up on my iPhones to copy my old iPhone information to my new iPhone (need to scan the diagram that comes up on your new iPhone with the camera on your old iPhone and need to enter your old iPhones unlock code).  Through the process, I responded to the prompts that came up and I confirmed on the new iPhone that I wanted it to be my iPhone going forward and it all went very smoothly.  After the data was transferred, some Apps continued to be loading in the background. It picked up my Wifi credentials automatically, and all my preferences and lock code, etc. At the end, my new phone looked very similar to my old phone (except bigger). 

On some of the Apps afterwards, I had to log in again. For all my credit cards in Apple wallet, I had to add my CCV codes again. I had to log-into my Apple ID to enable app auto-updating. I had to acknowledge that my iMessages would be going to my iPad, MacBook, etc (as they were set up to do so already). And on those devices, I had to acknowledge that I had a new device connected. 

My phone shows Rogers Wi-Fi at the top when I am on Wi-Fi. When away, it shows 5G at the top, with the signal strength.

I dropped in at the Rogers store and spoke to a kind rep who explained that yes, my existing SIM (even though it does not say 5G on it) will give 5G performance on a 5G phone/plan/area. She also said if there was ever an issue, a new SIM card with 5G can be made available from them in store, and they would be happy to help get it installed and set up on my Rogers account. So that was nice too. When I also asked why on my Rogers account it still showed my old iPhone and not the new one, she also explained that that was the last one I bought from Rogers, but all should be fine.

Overall, a very smooth process. Good work Apple.  Good work Rogers.  

And again, Thanks All for Your Great Support.